Susan

This particular message is a rerun from a couple of years ago. The facts remain, those three ladies are among the best people I know. Today one of them is in a literal sturggle for her life. My hope is that more people than ever will read this blog today and that each of them will lift Susan Tongol in prayer. Thank you all in advance for the prayers you will pray for my dear friend.



Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1-4

Today I wish my mother had named me Susan. I’m sure you are wondering why. Don’t worry, I’m about to tell you.

This morning I was fervently praying for humility, not humiliation but true spiritual humility. I was pleading with God to remove all my pride and replace it with humility. “Lord,” I asked, “please make me humble.” It was one of those moments in prayer where I wanted an example, just in case the all mighty, all knowing God of the universe, Lord of all didn’t quite understand what I meant. I prayed to be more like three women I know fairly well. “Oh Lord,” I prayed, “please let me be more like Susan Tebo, Susan Tongol, Susan Starnes.” At Susan Starnes I realized, they were all named Susan. What’s in a name? Apparently quite a bit. For the first time in my life I wished to have been named something other than Patricia.

Many of you don’t know these women, who I assure you are very real people whose permission I will seek before using their whole names. Let me tell you about them. They have in common a willingness to do for others. They are all very positive people. I have seen each one smile when I knew they had precious little to smile about. One is a died in the wool Yankee, one a Southern girl and the other a military kid who has been a little bit of every where. They all do different jobs and attend different churches. The greatest, most obvious, most enviable quality I see in all three of them is the ability to be completely visible and completely invisible at the same time. These are women who touch other people’s lives simply by walking past them in the hallway. It’s a wonderful spiritual gift I bet none of them thinks she has. I wonder if it comes with the name. I know there are exceptions to every rule but as I was praying this morning, it certainly caught my attention, that all three had the same name.

Seriously I don’t think the name is the deciding factor. As I was writing this I thought of two other Susans that I know. One is similar to this trio and the other just may be the exception that proves the rule. It isn’t about the name and certainly I know other wonderfully spiritual, humble people including a couple of guys who didn’t want to be a Johnny Cash song and aren’t named Sue. My guess is that God was trying to get my attention and repeating the same name three times made me stop and think. What is it about these three that captivates me, grabs my attention and makes me a little envious? I believe it is that true humility worn so easily tells me that these women are much closer to God than I am. Somewhere along the way they’ve learned a lesson I’ve missed and therefore am destined to repeat. Humility is something with which my Father would like me to get comfy. I’ve prayed off and on to be more humble but today I really decided that it is of the utmost importance to me. It almost feels like the next rung of a ladder or step of the journey.

In his infinite wisdom and mercy, lest I forget and back up from my commitment to truly become more humble, become a Susan, God sent me a little reminder/help. When I arrived at home after work today, the day of the Susan epiphany, there was an envelope in the mail from my sister. Inside was a green sheet of paper. At the top it said, “A Private Litany of Humility.” My sister had sent it to me in response to a message I had written a couple of years ago about learning to be more humble. Did you just read that it’s been a couple of years at the very least that I have been in this quest for humility? I do believe God is telling me it’s time. Get it and get it now!

My sister enclosed a note that said, “I love this prayer. I hate this prayer.” I read it and heartily concur. I LOVE this prayer. I HATE this prayer. Most of all I am so very grateful to have it and to have received it today, just exactly when I needed it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Not Really god, where are you?

My Offering

Selective Sight